Installing Bitvise SSH Server

To install Bitvise SSH Server, execute the installer that you downloaded from our website and follow the process. As soon as the installer completes, you will have a working SSH server installation on your machine. No changes to the default configuration are necessary, you only need to start it. However, see also Configuring groups and accounts - this will help you restrict your users' access to those features that they actually need, which will improve security.

Unattended installation

It is also possible to install Bitvise SSH Server in unattended mode, using command-line parameters to the installer. If you wish to make use of this feature, execute the following for a list of supported command-line parameters:

BvSshServer-Inst.exe -?

To see help output, run the SSH Server installer from an elevated, administrative Command Prompt or PowerShell window. If you run it from a non-elevated window and click through the UAC prompt, Windows will cause the installer to display its output in a separate console window, which will immediately close.

For example, if you wished to install Bitvise SSH Server on a fresh machine and start it immediately afterwards, you might execute the following:

To apply a ready-made configuration file as part of the installation process, add the '-settings=...' parameter and specify the file from which Bitvise SSH Server should load its configuration. This file can be created by exporting the settings of an existing installation from its Bitvise SSH Server Control Panel.

If you are installing a single Bitvise SSH Server installation, you should of course simply execute the installer (without parameters) and follow the instructions provided by the user interface.

Unattended configuration

After installing the SSH Server, further automated setup can be performed using:

After installation, BssCfg can be found in the SSH Server's installation directory. It needs to be started in an elevated Command Prompt or PowerShell window that runs with administrative permissions.

BssCfg can configure most aspects of an SSH Server installation. For example, the following configures a global default registry setting to avoid the SSH Server Control Panel showing popup messages to administrators who are logged in interactively:

BssCfg popups show -never -default

Run BssCfg without parameters for help.

Unattended uninstallation

To uninstall from the command line:

Copy the uninst.exe program in the Bitvise SSH Server installation directory to another temporary location.

Execute uninst.exe in the temporary folder as follows:

uninst.exe "Bitvise SSH Server" -unat

It is possible to run uninst also directly from the SSH Server installation directory. However if you do that, uninst will first copy itself to a temporary location, then run itself and exit. The original instance of uninst will exit before the uninstallation completes. This may cause problems if your script performs other tasks which should wait for the uninstallation to complete.